Medicare is example of efficient system

Those opposed to health care reform say that government can't efficiently run programs, and when it does, they are very expensive and wasteful, and, therefore, the government shouldn't get involved.

They say that we should leave it all up to the insurance companies. We should let a clerk at the insurance company decide what care you will be granted or if your claim should be approved. I guess they've never heard of Medicare. Medicare is a shining example of how the government can administer a health care program efficiently.

Under Medicare, a person is free to select any doctor or hospital for his/her care. The government doesn't operate the hospitals or employ the medical personnel, it just pays the bills. There are no exorbitant salaries or bonuses (Remember the $1.5 billion paid to a retiring CEO). Instead, all of the overhead (cost of the insurance company doing business including millions of dollars paid to lobby Congress) will disappear and overall health care costs will drop by as much as 30 percent.

A single-payer system would revolutionize health care in this country by making it available to everyone while saving billions.

Burton Harris

Buffalo Grove